MDU members are being guided through the new complaints procedure, which is introduced in England on 1 April, with the help of a new publication, launched today. The MDU's guide to the combined NHS and social care complaints procedure* is designed to help doctors quickly get to grips with the new system, which places a greater emphasis on preventing harm, reducing risks, learning lessons and resolving complaints locally.

The MDU helps over three thousand doctors and dentists respond to complaints each year and says doctors can use complaints as an opportunity to identify underlying system problems and seek to resolve them. The majority of complaints notified to the MDU are as a consequence of a system failure such as the inadvertent filing of blood results that had not been acted upon.

Dr Michael Devlin, deputy head of advisory services, said: "Our new booklet is aimed at helping members to continue to resolve complaints quickly and efficiently. Doctors can do this by working with patients from the outset in order to flexibly investigate their concerns, identify where things have gone wrong and offer an apology, if appropriate. Of complaints notified to us by our GP members, 85% are resolved at the first, local resolution stage. Members should therefore be in a good position to deal with the new, streamlined procedure, which places a greater emphasis on resolving matters at the first stage, if possible.

"In addition, NHS organisations will be expected to have formal mechanisms in place to allow complaints to drive learning and improvement, such as appropriate arrangements in GP practices to review all complaints and analyse them. Such an approach is not new: the MDU has for many years advised members to consider patient complaints as significant events that need to be investigated and acted upon; but our guidance explains how doctors can incorporate these clinical governance elements into their response."

The MDU guide contains advice about how to respond to a complaint, including some fundamental principles that can help doctors resolve matters at the first stage. These include:

- Ensure all complaints are investigated thoroughly - establish the relevant facts and speak to all staff involved.

- Have a clear investigation plan for each complaint including the time it will take to investigate and respond and what the complainant wants as an outcome.

- Handle complaints in a flexible way taking account of the seriousness of the concerns raised, the lessons learnt by the organisation and ensuring that your response is balanced and appropriate.

- Try to remain objective. If possible, complaints should be reviewed by someone directly involved in the complaint but who is not the subject of the complaint.

- Be open and honest, admitting any mistakes and apologising where appropriate.

- Have a system in place for reviewing and learning from complaints and inform the complainant of any action taken.

Key aspects of the new procedure, explained in the MDU's guide, include:

- a new simplified two-stage procedure - local resolution and the Health Service Ombudsman;

- a duty to cooperate between organisations (health or social care or both) where there is a cross-boundary complaint to ensure that the complainant receives a coordinated response;

- patients can choose to make complaints either direct to a GP or to a PCT;

- an obligation to discuss with the complainant at the outset how the investigation into the concerns raised will be conducted, including anticipated timescales;

- a requirement for GP practices to monitor complaints and submit an annual report to their PCT including lessons learnt and actions taken to improve services;

- no prescribed times for investigation and response - but procedures must be efficient and flexible in order to deal with complaints in a timely way;

- oral complaints resolved within 24-hours do not need to be formally recorded or included in a GP practice's annual report;

- a 'responsible person', usually a senior person such as a hospital chief executive, or senior GP partner, must sign off on each complaint response and ensure action is taken, if necessary.

The MDU is a mutual, not for profit, organisation owned by our members who include over 50 per cent of the UK's hospital doctors and GPs. Established in 1885, we were the world's first medical defence organisation. We defend the professional reputations of our members when their clinical performance is called into question. Our benefits of membership include insurance for claims of clinical negligence and a wide range of medico-legal advisory services.

Source
Susan Field
Press Office
Medical Defence Union
230 Blackfriars Road
London
SE1 8PJ